


Vanity Mirror Messages

by lilsnuggle



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, But not really cause Edric left Amity to the wolves, Confusion, Gen, General, Good Siblings Edric & Emira Blight, Homework, Human AU, I can see you but you can't see me, Implied Camileda, King is a good boy, Luz is unintentionally really misleading, Mirrors, Misunderstandings, No Romance, Strangers to Friends, Texting, and I don't know why
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:13:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27233293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilsnuggle/pseuds/lilsnuggle
Summary: Luz had a hard day at school and all she wants to do it lay down and forget the world. She can't do that, of course, because homework is important. When she sits down at her desk to work she notices something completely abnormal: There is another person inside her mirror. They cannot see her, and she cannot hear them, so why does the person suddenly look so absolutely befuddled while staring straight into Luz's eyes?ORLuz sees a person in her mirror, and with nothing but time on her hands, she pulls out a trusty dry-erase pen and investigates.
Comments: 11
Kudos: 58





	Vanity Mirror Messages

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first story I've ever posted, anywhere. If there are any glaring issues, or confusing points, please let me know so I can understand what works and what doesn't, so I can deliver better stuff next time :) If the spacing between paragraphs is weird please mention it! I tried my best to fix the weird grammatical errors that occurred when I transferred the document, but I know I didn't catch them all. I've never used AO3 so I literally have no idea if something is wrong until I've already posted it.
> 
> I am aware that most of the written-dialogue and texts do not end with proper punctuation (because you wouldn't put a period at the end of your sentence when writing on your mirror or texting, so why would they?)
> 
> If it is not immediately obvious:  
> Italicized = Luz speaking with messages/thinking  
> Bold = Blights communicating w/ messages  
> Underline = Blights speaking but Luz cannot hear them (their conversation is also in parenthesis in case the underline isn't clear or it is not present)

Luz pulled the cap off her dry-erase marker with her teeth and scribbled black ink onto the glass of her little vanity mirror that sits on her desk facing her bed.  
  


_Looking sharp today  
  
_

Just a little note of encouragement for herself, she likes to think. Her step-mother had gotten this little mirror for her after someone parted with it at the second-hand shop she owns. The paint is a little chipped on the rounded edges, and the stand wobbles sometimes when she adjusts it a certain way, but she loves it. She never really had a use for a vanity mirror on her desk but she couldn’t say it hasn’t been useful. It’s fun to sometimes just sit down and stare at her reflection, making silly faces, playing with her hair, pretending the mirror is really a TV screen and she’s the main character in the show that her reflection creates. Or to just admire her surroundings from a different angle.  
  


She’s recently started writing herself little notes to keep herself motivated throughout the day, because more likely than not she’ll forget she wrote anything and be surprised when she finds it later. The days when she comes up with a particularly clever compliment or witty joke makes her especially proud of herself. It was like finding an individually wrapped piece of candy in a side pocket of her yellow messenger bag after she thought she already finished off the last piece days ago. A little treat for herself when she least expects it.  
  


Usually she wrote these self-love notes in the morning before school, or even the night before if she’s feeling adventurous… and tired enough that she knows she won’t remember having written anything when she wakes up. It’s always short, sweet, and vague enough that if the situation ever arose then she could use those same words on other people as pickup lines or compliments. She particularly enjoyed repeating them to King when he would sit still long enough for her to hold his face in her hands and stare into his soul-piercing yellow eyes.  
  


King didn’t understand her, not one bit, but Luz loved the way his tail fluffy wagged when she coddled him like he was the most important thing in the world. In a way, Luz _was_ the most important thing in _his_ world. He had been the smallest of his stray litter, and the way he clung to her like super glue the moment her hands wrapped around his tiny shivering body was heartbreaking. He was just a baby when she accidentally adopted him and now there was nothing she could do to get away. Not that she wanted to. Now, King’s days started with a kiss on top of his head and whispers of love and promises of Luz’s swift return before his faithful partner in crime had to leave for the next eight hours. It was a tough routine, as his little heart didn’t understand why she had to leave for so long without him, but when she came home he instantly forgave her when she showered him with affection.  
  


King wiggled his fluffy body out from under her blankets and jumped off her bed. How he slept under her covers with his thick double-coated fur was beyond her, but he became a blessing in the colder months and an absolute curse in the hotter ones. She bent down to give him a kiss on his white skull-patterned forehead.  
  


“Be a good little monster today, okay King?”

  
The excited wet tongue that dragged it’s way up her neck and stopped just below her eye was all the answer she would get out of him. She knew what it meant. He was only agreeing to be tolerable today because it made her happy, but his slobbery lick also said that as soon as she stepped out the front door he would tear up her room as if he were trying to arrange a summoning circle with her thrown-about belongings to get her back faster. Another daily routine that she couldn’t get away from.  
  


She held his face in her hands and stared into his shining eyes, daring him to make the first move. 

  
Neither so much as blinked for at least ten seconds.  
  


His tail gently swished as they stared each other down. Luz blinked, and her gaze shifted into a glare as she released his face.  
  


King won this round, but he won’t win the next. She stood up and stepped over to her desk and wrote her note for the day.  
  


 _Looking sharp today  
  
  
_ She flicked herself dual finger-guns in her reflection, the pen cap still between her teeth.  
  
  
Was that good enough?

  
Ah, it didn’t matter. Luz glanced at the clock next to her bed. Already time to leave, darnit. She grabbed her messenger bag, slipped on the nearest pair of socks, and left her room. King trailed not too far behind, savoring his last moments with his best friend. In minutes she was out the front door and heading off to attend her last days of her current school. She was set to switch to a different one in just a few weeks, right when the new semester starts. Finally, the escape from bullies and loneliness that she’s been quietly desperate for. Although, it was hard to be too hopeful, because there was still the heavy dread of being the same solo weirdo in her new school too… And she was about to be the new kid in the _middle_ of the year. If she didn’t make a good first impression she was doomed for the rest of her days. She almost smiled at the coming change. Almost. There was always a catch when it came to these things for Luz, and it was hard to bring herself to be excited.  
  


\--  
  


When Luz arrived home, the first thing to greet her was the infinitely wiggly and explosively happy body of her boy King. His tail thrashed as he jumped over and over, trying desperately to make his way into her arms. She laughed as she always did and lifted him, struggling the whole way. He was definitely getting heavier. Or was she getting weaker?

Luz kicked off her shoes as near to the door as she could manage while King still struggled in her grasp. She carried him to her room with nearly trembling arms, doing her best not to drop him while he did his best to make that was an almost impossible task. She stumbled on the top two steps of the stairs, and the way King yelped in fear of being mercilessly cast aside by his cruel master would’ve made her heart seize if she didn’t first roll her eyes at his dramatics. He cried at any chance he could when he thought he was about to have a little less attention given to him. Which was often. 

Very, very, _very_ often. 

He cried when she used the restroom. He cried when she left for school. He cried when she did her homework. He cried when she went to _sleep_ , for god’s sake. He’s such a _whiner_ . But he’s _her_ whiner, and she loved him no matter how much he annoyed the ever-living crap out of her sometimes. Eda and her mama loved him too, but they made it very clear that King is _her_ dog, because they didn’t want to deal with his separation anxiety and general neediness like Luz did.  
  


She swung her arms as far as she could and literally tossed him onto her bed. His pitiful yapping reached her ears but not her heart and she ignored him. Luz knew she tossed him with the utmost care, and he wasn’t hurt in the slightest. She’d fallen for his antics enough times in the past to know his true devilish nature. He was just being noisy for fun.  
  
Luz pulled the strap of her messenger bag over her head and dropped it heavily onto the floor beside her desk. She wanted so badly to collapse on her bed and lay there until the end of time, maybe even snuggle with King if he decided not to be an absolute pest. Today hadn’t been a great day at school and the thought of doing _more_ work made her entire body feel hot in a weird, stressed, semi-angry kind of way. But, she knew if nothing disturbed her while she worked then the feeling wouldn’t stick around when she finished. Meaning she could at least start her homework. Yeah, she can at least start it.

Maybe take a break about 10 minutes in and never look back.

She dropped heavily into her chair and dragged her bag into her lap. She pulled out the first few things her fingers grasped: A blue spiral notebook, a stapled packet of math homework, two pieces of reading material for history, a few loose sticky-notes, and a pamphlet for some dumb summer camp.  
  
  
 _“Uuugh.”_ The distaste for the prize in her hand was palpable. _Anything_ but math. And _anything_ but that dumb summer camp she told her mama she didn’t want to go to!  
  
  
Luz dropped the papers on her desk, planted her elbows on top, and put her head in her hands; pushing her fingers up into her hair while her palms pressed against her eyes. She sat there in mental exasperation for a few minutes. King snuffled and dug around on her bed the whole time, and although she’d rather be alone, it was nice hearing him be his own creature for once instead of adamantly begging for her attention.  
  


Minutes passed. Every second a reminder of her positively dreadful near-future duties: _Homework_.

  
With a groan large enough to impress the Titans, Luz threw her hands onto her desk and buckled down. There was nothing she wanted to do less at this very moment. She picked up her pencil and looked down at the sheet of math.

...

_What?_

Uncomfortable, familiar heat slowly began to rise up her neck and into her cheeks. There was an unmistakable buzzing in her head that made it impossible to read the equations on the paper without feeling annoyed. She chewed her lip and read it again. And again.

And again. 

It just wasn’t making sense. She tried to break it up, separating the numbers. They weren’t connecting. Even when separated they didn’t mean anything to her frying brain. The longer she stared the hotter her head became, and she could feel the synapses snap like rubber bands because they also didn’t want to deal with this garbage. The grip on her pencil became tighter as her thumb pressed against the wood near the erased end, threatening to crack the poor utensil into several bits.

_No, she told herself. _I’m not going to get upset over this. This is dumb._ _

Luz dropped her pencil on the desk and leaned back in her chair. She rubbed her eyes with her finger and thumb before crossing her arms with an audible huff. She glared at her homework like it had offended her family lineage. She stared it down in hopes that her gaze alone could ignite embers on the paper and light it ablaze. Wishful thinking, she knew, but to be able to make the math feel what it made her feel was something she craved.

Her glaring contest was interrupted when movement caught the corner of her eye. She looked to her left, expecting to see a sticky note fluttering in the nonexistent breeze that wasn’t blowing through her room.

Instead, what Luz saw made her eyes widen in both concern and shock. There was something - no, someONE, moving in the mirror that sat on her desk. Luz could see them clearly, as if they were her own reflection. No, they _should’ve_ been Luz’s reflection. Luz whipped around in her chair to catch whoever was in her room behind her.

But Luz was alone.

She turned back around. The person’s eyes in her mirror were staring into Luz’s, and the longer Luz didn’t move the more freaked out she felt. Could they see her too? Were they staring into her soul, like she was staring into theirs? It took her a few seconds to realize that, no, this person was not looking into her soul, they were looking at something else. Their eyes were low, eyebrows furrowed.

Luz would admit to nobody that when the person reached out a hand and pressed it against the glass Luz jumped nearly a foot in the air, fully expecting their fingers to pass right through and grab her. Instead, their fingers flattened against the clear surface, and Luz watched as they rubbed their fingers against the surface.  
  
Were… were they trying to clean it?  
  
Luz’s eyes unfocused from the squished fingers to find an answer. A panicked sense of understanding dawned over her, and it felt wrong.

They were trying to wipe away Luz’s dry-erase message that she wrote this morning.

But it wouldn’t come off, and the frustration was clear on their face. They lifted their fingers off the glass and looked at the offending skin to see if any of the ink was removed. It was clear that it wasn’t. Confusion grew on their face.

Luz waved her hand in front of her mirror, half expecting to see her reflection dance across its surface, and half hoping the person would jump in fear just as she did moments earlier - anything to assure Luz that she wasn’t going crazy. But the person didn’t even so much as blink. Luz touched the mirror. They didn’t react. Luz took her fingers off the glass, and only then, when Luz took some of the ink from her message with her, did the person make a face.

Shock, horror. Mild amusement?

Luz erased another few letters. The person leaned in, and she got a clear view on their face. Golden eyes, green a-line bobbed hair pulled back on the top. Brown roots showing. Perfectly winged eyeliner. It was then that Luz realized, with a bit of embarrassment that no one would know about, that the person one the other side was a girl.

_Wow. A really pretty girl._

The girl’s horror and curiosity only grew chaotic as Luz erased the rest. She looked left, then right, then back to the mirror, completely unbelieving of what she’d just witnessed. Luz decided to spare the girl and write another message, hopeful that she at least wouldn’t think she’s losing her mind.

_“Hello”_ _  
  
_

The girl’s golden eyes trace each letter as they’re written in real-time. The shock only became worse, and Luz wondered if she’d made the right choice. The girl looked like she was about ready to explode, or maybe even pass out if the way her eyes widened and mouth dropped open and wouldn’t close were any indication.

Just as Luz was pressing her pen to the glass again for a second message, the girl suddenly shot up out of her chair and left. She disappeared so quickly Luz almost wondered if she’d ever been there at all. She never even got to ask her name. Luz would be lying if she said she wasn’t a little disappointed at her absence. Wait, no, why is she disappointed? This girl has every right to leave. This whole situation is complete wack! Everything that is happening is totally not normal! Why _wouldn’t_ the girl pack up and leave? If Luz were in her position she probably would’ve tossed the mirror in her trash and forgot about it for the rest of her days.

That was the rational thing to do… So where did the girl go, and why didn’t she do just that?

Before Luz could question the absurdity of everything any further, the girl reappeared, and this time with a new face. A boy who looked strikingly similar, with the same golden eyes and green hair, took her previous spot in the chair. He looked at the girl, then back at the mirror. His face spelled uncertainty and skepticism, but the way he leaned in and stared deep into the mirror said _'suspended_ _disbelief ready to be proven wrong’._

His face crept ever closer to the glass, and Luz could only stare as his eyes darted around every facet of the object before him. His eyes traced the edges of the mirror, inching along the minute cracks in the paint, the details in the wood carvings, and the chips in the frame. When his attention stopped on something near the bottom left quarter of the frame, just outside of the reflective glass itself, Luz couldn’t help but look at her own mirror’s frame as if she’d see exactly what he saw.

There was nothing particularly interesting about the frame, aside from it’s very vintage appeal and the numerous layers of chipping paint where each layer was visible through cracks and chips, creating an incredibly intricate unintentional design. The topmost layer of paint was a pale seafoam green, and beneath that a gentle rose pink, and barely noticeable beneath that, only seen where both upper layers chipped off, was a deep royal blue that gave the mirror a regal decor. It was hard for Luz to decide which was her favorite color, because it all looked good to her.

As Luz gazed at the bottom left quarter of the mirror her eyes caught something. Through the cracks, underneath the three upper layers, in a small little crevice beside the carved patterns of feathers that rimmed the glass, a hint of fiery orange peaked out. It was beautiful. Luz knew that must’ve been the first original intended color for the mirror, before it was painted over with blue, then pink, then green. Why anyone would cover that up was beyond the Latina.

The boy on the other side must’ve noticed this too, although his attention was quickly re-focused as he leaned even closer to the glass. He nearly pressed his eyeball to it, and if Luz didn’t know any better, she would’ve guessed he was trying to see right through her soul. Or perhaps he was just admiring his own incredibly striking golden eyes. Who could blame him? By the Titans they were mesmerizing. Luz hoped she could find a color so captivating because she just couldn’t bring herself to look away. 

The boy leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms. For a moment, he looked as though he were about to kick his feet up onto the desk as well, but he quickly thought better of it. He opened his mouth and spoke to the girl next to him without looking at her. _("I don’t see anything here, Mittens.”)_

Luz realized she couldn't hear him.

Whatever the boy said perplexed the girl. She was shocked by his words, and maybe a little angry too. She said something back to him, waving her hands towards the mirror. _(“Well look harder, I know there was something there!”)_

The boy smirked and side-eyed his partner. He smugly sneered something in return _(“Mittens I think you’re starting to lose it. What you described is straight out of one of those children's books you read.”),_ and Luz watched as the girl's face turned sour and red as she seethed a harsh reply _(“I don’t read children’s books! I know what I saw, and if you don’t believe me then just get out of my room. I’ve wasted too much time away from my project anyway.”)_ while pointing to where Luz assumed the door was. The boy laughed at her annoyance, which only seemed to make her more upset.

Luz decided to save the girl from the grief the boy gave her, and picked up her pen. 

_"Please don't fight"_

As she slid the pen over the glass while writing the second and third words, the girl roughly shoved his face towards the mirror, and Luz watched as his expression rapidly morphed from mocking mirth to comically exaggerated disbelief in a fraction of a second. His eyes widened and mouth dropped open, which made the corners of Luz's lips raise as she bit back a smile. Even his reactions were the same as the girl's. _They must be siblings,_ Luz thought.

When the final line was drawn on the glass the boy spoke again. _(“Okay maybe I do believe you. Did this just start today?”)_ It must've been a question because the girl only nodded and mumbled a reply. _(“Just a few minutes ago. It said “looking sharp” first, then there was a Hello above it. I don’t know what’s happening.”)_

The boy placed his hand under his chin and rested his elbow in the other palm. His mouth moved again _(“Can it hear us? Hey, mirror, what’s your name?”)_ , but this time the girl didn’t respond. Was he thinking out loud? Nothing happened for a few moments, and Luz wondered if they were waiting for something. Just when Luz was about to write more, the girl shook her head and shrugged. _(“Guess not?”)_

He didn’t seem to like this answer, because his eyes sprung into action again, while his entire face scrunched in concentration. They glanced all around the room they were in, searching for something over every surface. They bounced around with maybe too much enthusiasm. They eventually landed on and scoured something to his right moving up and down, back and forth, as if trying to connect too many floating dots together.

Suddenly, his entire body seemed to brighten as he snatched something from the surface of the desk. The girl nearly stepped in to interrupt him but one hand came up to stop her while the other scribbled something on his stolen paper and pen. He stuck the tip of his tongue out of his mouth in concentration. In seconds, his idea came to life and he held up a little piece of paper to the mirror, writing scrawled on it hastily. Very legible, but Luz wondered if the jagged lines and varying size in the lettering was his normal handwriting or if it was a product of being in a rush.  
  


**_“Can you see us?”_ **

  
She read the message and smiled. He didn’t seem to be nearly as perturbed by her supernatural notes as the girl was.

The paper lowered a little and she could see the expectant faces of the two on the other side. The girl was closer, her hand on the boy’s shoulder as she leaned down to watch the mirror closer. Luz considered being cryptic, coming up with ways to spook these two strangers. She could say something about being in the same room as them, or how she’s been watching them live in their house for a long time, or maybe how her messages were an advanced warning for something horrible that was coming for them soon, and if they didn’t heed her confusing riddles then they’d perish the same fate she once did.

She dashed those thoughts as quickly as they came, though. She felt if she played that kind of joke on these people then she’d come to regret it later. Maybe not in the sense of karma, but in a way that Luz knew she probably wouldn’t feel safe in her own home if she thought there was someone watching her at all times. She didn’t want to put that kind of burden on someone she didn’t even know.

She wrote a simple reply _“Yes”_

The two glanced at each other, the worry evident in the girl’s expression, but not the boy’s.

Luz hurriedly added a few more words to her message. “ _I’m on the other side.”_

That caught his attention. His jaw practically fell through the floor. He put down the note he was still holding and tangled his fingers in the hair on both sides of his head. His eyes were wide as he turned to his female counterpart, mouth flying in movement as he spoke.

The girl seemed to barely keep up with the boy’s words. Luz guessed he was rapid-firing questions, some probably not even relevant. She did that sometimes. She understood the look on the girl’s face, as it was a familiar one she saw on her mother sometimes. It was a tired look mixed with loosely veiled annoyance and the occasional slight eyebrow raise of confusion. Usually she saw the same expression on her teachers at school when she got particularly excited about a topic and couldn’t stop asking question after question, some irrelevant to the subject but still interesting nonetheless, hoping to find answers to at least a few of the racing thoughts in her head. She just couldn’t help it sometimes, and it didn’t look like this boy could either. 

_(“The other side?? Amity, do you know what this means?!”)_ His hands flew about every-which-way, throwing expressions into the air like they were confetti. _(“You’re not just talking to SOMEone, you’re talking to a ghost! A real spirit! This is crazy! What do you think it wants with you?”)_ There was a lot of energy in his words, passion in his movements. He looked frightened? His movements told her he was talking loudly, too. _(“Are you a medium? Did you summon this specter? Where did you get this mirror, is it cursed? Can I have it?”)_ Luz wished more than ever before to be able to hear them. She would’ve loved to hold a conversation with him if he was always so animated when he spoke.

He suddenly stopped and turned away from the girl to frantically write more on his paper.

The girl put a hand against her forehead and closed her eyes for a moment. She took a deep breath, clear by the way her shoulders heaved. Her initial irritation and panic was schooled, even though the shadow of disbelief and confusion never quite left her features. Was there maybe a hint of worry?

Another message was held in front of the mirror for Luz.

**_“When did you die?”_ **

_  
_Well - _that_ was certainly not what she expected. Die? When did Luz _die?_ Not anytime soon, she hoped! Where did that question come from? How could he think she was dead?  
  


Luz re-read her two short messages. _“Yes”_ and _“I’m on the other side”_. Wait- Dummy! Luz wiped her fingers over her dry-erase, smearing the ink in a way that created an un-erasable streak in the process. She rubbed the smear, removing as much ink as she could, but there was an unmistakable stain left behind. She’d realized in the back of her mind that she’d need water or glass cleaner to completely remove it.

She noticed the panic suddenly rise in the other two. The ghost they discovered just angrily wiped away it’s previous answers, so swept up in it’s rage that it left a hateful smear to warn them. The boy scribbled out an apology as well as said it outloud repeatedly, trying desperately to reconcile for how he offended the spirit.

**“** **_I’m sorry! That was so rude! I shouldn’t have asked something so personal! Please forgive me for my negligence, kind spirit!”_ **

Luz felt bad, and dumb. Very dumb. Of course she already said the wrong thing! She decided now would be a fine time to be as clear as possible.

_“Not dead. Not a ghost. I won’t hurt you.”_

Her brief words seemed to quell some of the panic in the boy, but not by a lot. He wrote more. 

**_“How do I know that’s true?”_ **

Luz replied, _“Would a ghost be able to lie?”_

That seemed to spark some thought for him. Can ghosts lie? Luz didn’t know, and she hoped he didn’t either, otherwise he might get the wrong idea again.

He wrote again. **_“Where are you?”_ ** _  
  
_

Finally, a question Luz could answer… Sort of. She didn’t want to say the wrong thing again, but how else was she supposed to word it? She’s on the other side of the mirror, obviously, but that wasn’t the right answer. She’s in her room? That sounded too vague. She’s at home? Okay, sure, but that wasn’t really an answer either. They could easily assume _their_ home is _her_ home. She’s sitting at her desk? Well, that was a start, if a little odd probably. That was an opening for a conversation. They could ask what that meant, and then she could jump in with “I’m in my room, in my house, at my desk, writing messages on the mirror my step-mom found for me recently.” Yeah, that could work. That sounded perfect!

Luz erased her last reply and wrote out the beginnings of her new, perfectly constructed plan. _“At my desk, in my room”_

The boy looked to his partner, and she looked to him. Neither said anything, unless it was whispered through unmoving lips.

_(“This is kind of freaking me out Mittens.”)_ The boy hastily stood up and backed away, _(“It says it’s at IT’S desk, in ITS room, meaning this isn’t your space anymore, Mittens”)_ gesturing with his hands, pointing behind him with his thumb and waving towards the mirror while he spoke his silent words. Now he looked _actually_ frightened, like his greatest fear was just outside the window and he needed to do everything in his power to get away from that room. _("If it can write words on your mirror while standing right next to us, I don’t want to know what it can do at 3AM when the veil between realms is at its thinnest. I think we need to perform an exorcism on your room or something.”)_ His apologetic eyes didn’t escape Luz’s notice, but it was quickly covered up by the insistent panic to leave right then and there. _(“I’m gonna go get Emira, maybe she can help. I think whatever this thing is isn’t good. Maybe you can stall it while I find backup, okay? Bye!”)_

What did Luz do to invoke this?

The girl watched as her partner left, and sat down in the chair he’d just vacated. She looked at her mirror, and although Luz knew that she couldn’t see her, she wondered how the girl was able to look right into her eyes. Her golden eyes scanned the words on the glass again. _“Would a ghost be able to lie?”_ and _“At my desk, in my room”_ only made her face grow more and more concerned.

Luz erased the words, forcing the girl to stop reading them. She didn’t want to give this girl a panic attack. She replaced the words with something hopefully kinder. She wanted to start a conversation, and fix whatever mess she’d just made. If she made one at all. It was very hard to tell when she was missing more than half the conversation.

_“What’s your name?”_

  
Luz could’ve sworn that she saw the girl’s breath hitch, suddenly unable to breathe. It must’ve been her imagination when the girl slowly turned to write on the paper her friend - brother? - had been writing on. Luz could see just how slowly she wrote her answer simply based on how the end of the pen moved in the girl’s hand. Eventually, the girl held up the paper.

**_"Amity"_ ** ****

Luz smiled, despite no one able to see her. _“That’s a nice name”_

Amity almost smiled in return. One corner of her lips turned upward very slightly, but that was all. The worry etched into her eyes never quite faded, but the way her eyebrows raised a little made Luz think maybe she was starting to realize there was no danger to be concerned about.

Amity carefully wrote more. **_“Do you have a name?”_ **

Yes! She sure _does_ have a name! Is it weird to be excited over such a simple question? She didn’t want to think too hard on that. _“Luz”_

  
The almost-smile from before on Amity looked like it wanted to grow, but she hesitated. Her mouth moved and Luz watched her lips. Amity was trying to pronounce her name. Though, if the way her lips stayed the same shape told her anything, she was pronouncing it wrong. It looked like she was saying the U as one would in the word “luck”.

Luz chuckled as she wrote more. _“It’s pronounced like ‘loose.’ It means light in Spanish.”_  
  


Amity said her name again, this time her lips curling around the letters. A smile stretched across her face, as if satisfied that she could say her name. The smile didn’t last long, unfortunately. It was unclear why. She took a second to write again. **_“What are you doing here?”_ **

Another confusing question. Did… Amity think she was there with her, in the same room? Did she think she was some spirit trapped in the mirror? Like a magical gemstone cursed to replay the contents of its history to all who asked? Luz groaned. How was she making this more complicated with every response? She thought she was being pretty straight forward!

_“What do you mean?”_

The way her entire face dipped into the frown that soured Amity’s expression only further confused Luz. She just wished she could speak to Amity directly to avoid all these conflicting emotions. Whatever she began to write must’ve been long because it felt like she was writing for ages. It was probably only seconds. **_“My brother said you’re a demon in my room writing messages over my shoulder. I don’t know what to think. I’ve never heard of a demon named Luz.”_ **

_“Ha HA!”_ The outright guffaw that belted from Luz’s mouth was something close to unholy. Maybe Amity was right. But definitely not in the sense that she was thinking. Luz hadn’t laughed like that in a long time. The brother’s terror was something akin to art, and Luz was living for it. She carefully removed her answers from the glass to make room for her next words. She started from the top of the mirror. _“Not a demon, spirit, ghost, geist, or anything like that. I’m like you-”_ Luz thought twice and erased that last part, even though she knew Amity had already read it. _“-I’m a person on the other side of your mirror. I’m in my room, at my desk like you. Ask me anything and I’ll be glad to answer.”_

  
The timid smile that graced Amity’s lips was like candy. Sweet, enticing, and it left Luz wanting more. Amity tapped the pen against her chin in thought.

Luz decided to write more for her _. “Was your brother scared because of me?”_

Amity didn’t write a reply, only nodded.

Luz felt like this was progress. _“Where’d he go?”_

Her response was quick, **_“He went to find our sister”_** She lowered the paper and wrote more **_“Who are you?”_**

Luz wondered if it was really progress. She pursed her lips. Didn’t she already say her name was Luz? She also said she’d answer any question Amity had for her, so she decided to start small. She erased her previous words and started from the top again. _“I’m a student, teenager, and I have a Keeshond dog named King.”_ Luz smirked, feeling brave. Amity couldn’t see her. Would it be weird to give her a compliment just to see her reaction? She wrote again, _“What about you, princess?”_

The way Amity’s face twisted as she tried not to laugh made Luz smile wider, her devious smirk no longer holding. ******_"I’m also a student. Why is it that you can see me but I can’t see you?”_ **

Oh. _That_ was the inevitable question she knew she really couldn’t answer. What was she supposed to say? There weren’t a lot of possibilities that came to mind. A lot of ideas that came to the front of her mind were ridiculous in their own right. Nothing she would admit out loud, either. She had no idea what made her special. For all she knew, she could still be dreaming and this was just a weird long dream with faces of people she’d only seen in passing.

Luz erased her previous message and wrote again. _“I don’t know why you can’t see me. My mirror isn’t special. My step-mom got it for me, said it was cursed as a joke. As far as I know you’re the first person I’ve ever seen in it. Maybe you’re just using it wrong?”_

Amity read the last three words out loud, an insulted glare morphing as she sneered. Luz laughed at the sight.

Amity wrote back, **_“How could I possibly be using my mirror wrong? It’s a mirror.”_ **

Luz replied, _“I don’t know. Maybe you have to look from a different angle?”_

Amity didn’t look like she cared to take the suggestion seriously. She sighed her lingering annoyance away and instead scribbled another question. **_“Do you have Penstagram?”_ **

Why did she want- _oh!_ _“I sure do! What’s your username?”_

Amity paused and shook her head. **_“You give me yours first.”_ **

Amity’s moment of hesitation made Luz hesitate as well. Maybe Amity just wanted to be safe? After all, she had no idea who she was really talking to. Luz could’ve been some creep for all she knew. Luz was sure she’d take the same precautions if she were on Amity’s side of the mirror. Or maybe not, since she never really thought about the consequences of things before she did them. The realization of her actions usually came long after the deed had been done, and it was only a matter of time before she found herself in serious trouble because of the naivety. That’s what Eda liked to tease her about, and Camila worried her head off over it.

Luz relented. She didn’t want to make Amity uncomfortable, and Luz had nothing to hide. _“Okay. Don’t judge though. I only really post things I’m into. My tag is **TheOtterWitch** ” _

Luz could clearly see the smile on Amity this time. She seemed amused by Luz’s username.

She watched idly as Amity picked up her phone from an unseen spot on her desk and started tapping away. It looked like it didn’t take long for Amity to find Luz’s profile, if the way one eyebrow raised as she scrolled through post after post.

Luz suddenly felt a little self-conscious of what she put on there. She didn’t have a lot, by her standards. Mostly pictures and videos of King doing silly things, the occasional Good Witch Azura post, maybe a picture or two of herself with her friends. Her only followers were her friends and a few people from school, which she didn’t mind, but it meant that her posts weren’t really meant for anyone but herself.

Suddenly, a ping went off in Luz’s pocket. She took out her phone and on the lockscreen found the notification of a new message from a mystery account on Penstagram. Was that Amity? She quickly opened her phone and opened the app. The account was aptly named, **_AmityAbomination_.**

Luz opened the message before even looking into Amity’s account. She knew she could do that later, and she was much too excited to be actually talking with Amity instead of just obnoxiously slowly writing cryptic messages.

_**AmityAbomination:** Mystery mirror? _

Luz giggled quietly at that vague message.

_**TheOtterWitch:** That’s me! Although, you know my name is Luz. _

She chanced a glance up at her mirror only to see Amity smiling down at her phone.

_**AmityAbomination:** Prove it.  
  
_

_**TheOtterWitch:** Prove it how? _

_  
**AmityAbomination:** Show me myself in your mirror. I still don’t believe you. _

That almost sounded like a challenge. A challenge Luz is certainly willing to accept! She quickly opened her camera app and took a photo of the small round mirror on her desk, no larger than her textbooks. Just before sending it she realized most of her messy room as well as the dry-erase on the glass was very visible in the reflection, but not Amity herself. That was… definitely not correct. When she looked into the mirror she could see Amity chance a glance at her mirror, before looking back down at her phone. She took another photo, but again it didn’t capture Amity. She scratched her head. Instead of wasting more time, she decided to position her phone just right so the only things visible in the reflection were the contents of her desk and nothing more. A few papers, two pens, half a sticky note with a little Azura doodle, and a hint of the wood grain of the ancient tabletop. She sent the picture.  
  


_**AmityAbomination:** ? _

_**AmityAbomination:** where am I? _

_**TheOtterWitch:** It won’t capture your reflection _

_**TheOtterWitch:** I mean, your view face _

_**TheOtterWitch:** ?? I mean the camera doesn’t show what I see. You’re sitting there, at your desk, but the camera is only showing what a normal mirror would see _

_**AmityAbomination:** That’s weird _

_**AmityAbomination:** well then show me you writing something on your mirror _

_**TheOtterWitch:** Like a recording? _

_**AmityAbomination:** Yeah, unless you’re not comfortable with that. I could write something for the mirror and you can tell me what it says on here _

_**TheOtterWitch:** Why not both? That way there’s no way I could be lying!  
  
_

Luz glanced up to her mirror to see Amity putting down her phone and scribbling away on her paper. Luz went ahead and pulled up her recording app, holding her phone as steady as she could while also writing on her mirror. _“Top secret message for Commander Amity, do you copy?”_

She didn’t review the video before sending it. She looked to her mirror to find Amity holding her paper up patiently. On it in her flowy cursive handwriting, **“** ** _The air was so dusty, her armor getting rusty. She found thoughts she never had. She winced at her weapon.”_ **

Why was that so familiar?  
  


She quickly turned back to her phone and typed out that message to Amity.

_**TheOtterWitch:** The air was so dusty, her armor getting rusty. She found thoughts she never had. She winced at her weapon _

_**TheOtterWitch:** wait isn’t that from Azura book 2? _

Her eyes told her the answer before any text could. Amity sat on the other side, a hand barely covering her wide smile as she typed out a reply with one thumb.

_**AmityAbomination:** Book 3, just after the battle against Rekliir the Mighty _

_**TheOtterWitch:** omg!! You read that series too??? I love that book! Who’s your favorite character? _ _  
  
_

Luz dared a glance to her mirror and saw Amity no longer covered her mouth, a beautiful toothy grin shining for all to see. Both her thumbs worked to rapidly type out a response.

_**AmityAbomination:** It’s only the best series in the world. Hecate kicks major butt and Azura would be so lost without her by her side. Her Palisman is nothing to scoff at, though. _

_**AmityAbomination:** I think it’s safe to say I believe you’re the one on the other side of my mirror _

_**AmityAbomination:** you’re cute btw _

  
That comment made Luz freeze.  
  


_**TheOtterWitch:** huh? _

_**AmityAbomination:** your video _

Fear suddenly ripped through Luz. She didn’t think to watch it before sending it. She had half a mind to mute the sound before uploading, at least. She had a weird fear of noises like her breathing being picked up by her microphone when there didn’t need to be any noise. She looked down at what she was wearing, thanking the stars that she at least had a hoodie and pants on, even if that couldn’t be seen in the video. She wondered what her hair looked like. Hopefully not the same kind of gigantic mess like it is when she first wakes up.

She scrolled back up in their short chat and opened her video, dreading what she might find.

The video buffered, as if giving Luz one last moment to bail and allow herself to never know what might be in there. The buffering didn’t last long enough though, as the moment the spinning wheel appeared it then disappeared. Luz nearly sighed in relief when she saw nothing out of the ordinary. It was then, only six seconds into the 28-second clip, that she adjusted her grip on the phone and a perfect view of Luz’s face was reflected in the mirror. Luz let out a groan as she put her hand on her cheek and dragged it up into her hair, wanting to pass away right then and there.

In the video, her tongue was barely poking out between her lips, and her eyes showed deep concentration as her free hand worked to quickly write out the short message on the mirror. It was clear she was looking at her pen against the glass and not where her phone was aiming. Her handwriting was sloppier than previously, and as Luz watched she could see how shaky her camera-work was too. Her dark brown hair was messy, cowlicks and slight curls sticking up left and right. Her hoodie’s strings were also lopsided, one side dangling further down than the other. An Azura poster was visible on the far wall behind her. When she looked closely, she could also see the black lump of King’s sleeping body on her bed. Her bed, which was also a mess, with her blankets half on the ground and the pillows thrown about.

Definitely the perfect first-impression that Luz had been hoping for.

She closed the video when it ended and looked up to her mirror, expecting the worst even though she knew Amity had just called her _cute_ , and there wasn’t anything much worse than the mortal embarrassment she was already feeling. Amity still sat there smiling, not nearly as wide as before but ‘ _man that smile is amazing’_ , her thumb flicking against her phone’s screen as she scrolled. She lifted her head and turned to something that Luz couldn’t see. Was her brother finally back? Wow, he’d taken forever. If Luz had really been a malicious spirit Amity would’ve been long gone by now.

Luz forced herself to swallow her self-consciousness and let herself feel a little happy that a girl she’d just met had the _gaul_ to call her cute. Instead of broadcasting her insecurities, she chose to play it cool.

_**TheOtterWitch:** Cute ey? Not too shabby yourself, little miss beautiful _

The reaction was near instant. Amity stopped her scrolling the second Luz sent her message, and the red blush that crept along her ears was unmistakable. The frown that had replaced her smile, however, was conflicting. Before Amity even got a chance to type, Luz was already hitting send on another message.  
  


_**TheOtterWitch:** Sorry, was that a weird thing to say? Your expression tells me I shouldn't have said that  
  
_

Amity didn’t even spare a glance at her mirror.  
  


_**AmityAbomination:** No, it’s not you. I just have to go. It’s been nice talking to you, Luz _

For some reason, that answer didn’t seem like the whole truth, but Luz wasn’t about to be rude and beg for a better answer. Instead, she resorted to comedy.

_**TheOtterWitch:** aww but I thought we were finally at the stage of our deep friendship where we could start romantically reciting Azura scenes to each other _

She wished she could hear the sound of the laughter that bubbled out of Amity’s mouth as her shoulders shook when she chuckled - maybe giggled - at Luz’s stellar joke.

_**AmityAbomination:** You gain access to that questline when you reach level 10 friendship. You’re at about 3 ½ right now. You still have yet to unlock my tragic backstory, too _

The gasp of excitement followed by the loud _“ha HA!”_ of achievement that came from Luz made her slap her hand over her mouth, the audible smack echoing against the walls of her room. She glanced to her left and right, checking that the dust in her room didn’t hear her.

_**TheOtterWitch:** Just you wait! I’ll hunt demons and owls for XP on the way to school to earn this level 10 friendship!   
_ _  
__**AmityAbomination:** ...why owls? _

_**TheOtterWitch:** Have you ever been attacked by an owl???? They’re so freaking scary!! _

_**AmityAbomination:** I guess I’ll just have to ask you about that later :) I have to go _

_**TheOtterWitch:** Bye! Have a good day :D   
_ _  
_**TheOtterWitch:** Oh, and if it crosses your mind, you could turn your mirror away cause I can kinda see like all the way across your desk and to the other wall   
  


Amity didn’t respond. Instead, Luz caught the movement of Amity’s mirror being turned towards the back of her desk. In the back of her mind she felt a slight bit of disappointment that she wouldn’t get to see Amity again unless the girl allowed her to.

Luz looked down at her desk, her homework long forgotten. She stood and stretched, not realizing just how stiff her whole body had become from sitting down for so long. The faint sound of the front door closing caught her attention.

King let out a loud bark behind her and she jumped, a hand coming up to clutch her heart as she whipped around to find out what he was upset about. King stood on her bed, smiling up at her, wagging his tail like he was the sweetest angel in the world.

Luz glared at him. “You’re going to give me a heart attack one day…”

A voice called from downstairs, “Luz! Dinner’s ready, get down here!”

She gathered King up in her arms for no other reason than because she wanted to carry him. She struggled to keep a tight grip on him while he wiggled like his life depended on it as she headed out of her room. King’s wet nose smacked her in the jaw and she grumbled, daring him to do it again and she’d drop him. Just before she stepped through the door frame, however, she turned back and glanced at the mirror on her desk. It looked normal, which was odd to say, as she thought she would still see the backside of Amity’s desk in the glass; but it reflected Luz’s room.

Maybe it really was a matter of looking at it at the right angle?

**Author's Note:**

> So how do you feel?
> 
> I left this open-ended so I could add more if people wanted me to, so let me know if you think there should be a second chapter!
> 
> I based this entire piece on a little text post saying "What if the demon in your bathroom mirror was actually really nice, and instead of saying things like 'you're going to die in 7 days' it said things like 'that makeup looks really good' and 'you deserve better than him'" and it just spiraled from there. I wasn't confident writing this story, but I hope that doesn't show. I didn't really have any idea of where it would go until the texting part, and even then I felt like most of the plot was a little weak. I was wary about the beginning, where it starts with Luz writing the note, then goes on to talk about King, then circles back to the pen cap in her mouth and having just written the note. Was that hard to follow?
> 
> The moments where Ed and Amity were speaking to each other, was that confusing? I wasn't sure how to add their dialogue. I wrote the outline WITH their banter, but then wrote the final piece without it, and I just wasn't sure if it came out as weird or not. I'm the author, so of course it looks fine to me, but as a reader I am unsure.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed :D I have more stories in my catalogue that I hope to publish soon! And a big AU that some friends and I are working on together (ya like werewolves? lmao)
> 
> Also, that line that Amity uses, "the air was so dusty, her armor getting rusty..." is from the song Ghost Assassin VIP by Maduk. It's based on the game Starcraft, and it is really cool. You don't need to play the game to enjoy the song (I didn't know it was based on anything until I looked up the lyrics)


End file.
